Jesse Lingard celebrates scoring against AC Milan.

Lingard out to kickstart season against Astana

Thursday 19 September 2019 09:48

Manchester United midfielder Jesse Lingard is set to return to action in the Europa League tie against Astana at Old Trafford.

The England international linked up with his country ahead of the Euro 2020 qualifiers with Bulgaria and Kosovo but was forced to withdraw from Gareth Southgate's squad due to illness.

The problem persisted and he was still laid low and unavailable for the win over one of his former loan clubs, Leicester City, last time out.

Jesse Lingard has a shot during the draw at Southampton.

The stop-start opening to the campaign will have frustrated the 26-year-old, who had been pleased with his pre-season performances, including a stellar showing in the game with AC Milan in Cardiff, when he scored an excellent equaliser before the Reds went on to win a penalty shoot-out.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was certainly delighted to be able to call upon the homegrown product again when assessing his options ahead of our first European assignment of 2019/20.

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"Jesse is back," Ole told MUTV. "Which is great. He had a bad time when he was with England so, hopefully, we’ll get him on the pitch to try to kickstart his season again."

Now fully recovered, Lingard will aim to bring his dynamic approach to the team, knowing that his ability to press and harry opponents is much appreciated by his manager.

"Jesse has been a big part of our team," the boss said recently. "Jesse will keep continuing to be an important part because of the energy he gives us and he’s lively."

With several changes expected to the line-up, the midfield man could be asked to take on the responsibility of trying to break down the Astana defence, and his knowledge of European football will be a help.

It will be his 31st appearance in European competition for the Reds, and he scored two goals during our successful run in the Europa League tournament in 2016/17.

He may also be in the manager's thinking for the Premier League clash at West Ham United this weekend.

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